2016 AMC 10B Problem 12

Below is the professionally curated solution for Problem 12 of the 2016 AMC 10B, from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2016 AMC 10B solutions, or check the answer key.

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Concepts:basic probabilitycomplementary countingparity

Difficulty rating: 960

12.

Two different numbers are selected at random from {1,2,3,4,5}\{1, 2, 3, 4, 5\} and multiplied together. What is the probability that the product is even?

 0.2 \ 0.2

 0.4 \ 0.4

 0.5 \ 0.5

 0.7 \ 0.7

 0.8 \ 0.8

Solution:

The product is odd if and only if both numbers are odd. There are (32)=3\binom 32=3 ways to do this out of a possible (52)=10\binom 52=10 ways. This makes the probability of it being odd equal to 310=0.3.\frac 3{10} = 0.3. This means the probability it is even is 10.3=0.7.1-0.3=0.7.

Thus, the correct answer is D .

Problem 12 in Other Years